Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Rating:
Summary: The Wild & Erotic World of Almodovar
Review: Pedro Almodovar followed up the success of his international hit, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," with this wild, erotic comic fantasy starring his long-time leading man and soon-to-be Hollywood star, Antonio Banderas.

Fresh from his incarceration from an asylum in Madrid, Banderas plays a ex-lunatic who leaves in search of the object of his affection, a popular Spanish porn star (played by Victoria Abril).

After meeting, then kidnapping her, Banderas' character is more determined to make her fall in love with him, and does whatever he needs to do in order to win her love. However, Abril, refuses to love a man who has made her a prisoner of her own home. The title, which is a translation of its' original Spanish title, "Atame!," reflects the method Banderas uses to coax and subdue Abril's character in falling in love with him (he ties her up in her bedroom).

While the story seems far-fetched at times, the chemistry that Banderas and Abril emit makes the film work. Supporting actresses Maria Barranco and Rosie de Palma lend their unique comic talents in helping the director weave a tale of love and desire that only Almodovar can tell.

Upon release in the United States, this film was slapped with the newly created and feared NC-17 rating due to his sexual themes and minor violence. Compared to R rated films of the present such as "Basic Instinct" and "The Matrix," this film is tame. Refusing to edit his work, Almodovar criticized the MPAA for its' decision to market the film with an NC-17 rating. Due to this rating, the film did not do too well at the box office as expected.

This film marks Banderas' final film in Spain, before departing to the United States to start his successful career in Hollywood. The film contains glimpses of Banderas' backside, as well as a whole lot of Abril's figure, and the sexual scenes are soft-core porn quality. If you are offended by glimpses of the naked body or sexual themes, then skip this film.

"Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" is one of Almodovar's rare gems. As a true master of the Spanish cinema, his work truly reflects his gifted talent. A great film with a comic ending!

Rating:
Summary: See it for Antonio Banderas
Review: Pedro Almodovar likes to shake and shock his audience. So, in TIE ME UP ! TIE ME DOWN !, we have a Victoria Abril giving up underclothes in her everyday life, the same Victoria playing in her bath with a little suggestive toy. We are also dealing with a doctor offering drugs to her patients and with an obsessed director in a wheelchair. But, curiously enough, we are not shocked at all.

We are not shocked because TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN is a movie about innocence. Antonio Banderas can steal cars, buy drugs and even kidnap Victoria, we forgive him because he does it not for his own sake but only to please Victoria Abril he's madly in love with. And the drug addicted and ... star Victoria does finally have a golden heart and will cry when Antonio will come back with blood all over his face after a fight with Rossy de Palma's gang.

Victoria's sister, the assistant producer of Francisco Rabal, has the difficult task to impersonate reason and reality in this fairy tale for adults I've liked a lot. Too bad there is only a trailer as bonus feature with this Anchor Bay DVD.

A DVD zone movida.

Rating:
Summary: LOVE AT FIRST KNOT
Review: Pedro Almodovar likes to shake and shock his audience. So, in TIE ME UP ! TIE ME DOWN !, we have a Victoria Abril giving up underclothes in her everyday life, the same Victoria playing in her bath with a little suggestive toy. We are also dealing with a doctor offering drugs to her patients and with an obsessed director in a wheelchair. But, curiously enough, we are not shocked at all.

We are not shocked because TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN is a movie about innocence. Antonio Banderas can steal cars, buy drugs and even kidnap Victoria, we forgive him because he does it not for his own sake but only to please Victoria Abril he's madly in love with. And the drug addicted and ... star Victoria does finally have a golden heart and will cry when Antonio will come back with blood all over his face after a fight with Rossy de Palma's gang.

Victoria's sister, the assistant producer of Francisco Rabal, has the difficult task to impersonate reason and reality in this fairy tale for adults I've liked a lot. Too bad there is only a trailer as bonus feature with this Anchor Bay DVD.

A DVD zone movida.

Rating:
Summary: "You can't be that kinky."
Review: Pedro Almodovar's film "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" stars one of the director's favourite leading ladies--Victoria Abril as Marina--a former adult film star with a nasty narcotic habit. Marina is trying to stay clean with the help of her protective, responsible and non-stop talking sister, Lola. Marina has almost finished making a second rate horror film, "the Midnight Phantom." The film's wheelchair bound director, Maximo is obsessed with Marina. There's something about Marina's fragile sensuality that makes men want to protect and possess her. Ricky (Antonio Banderas)--just released from a mental hospital--is also obsessed with Marina. Ricky decides that he will kidnap Marina and keep her tied up until she falls in love with him.

Of course, there's a fundamental flaw in Ricky's plan, but Almodovar's playful script shows how the obstacles to Ricky and Marina's relationship are overcome. Victoria Abril is--as always--splendid, and Banderas is at his best. As with all Almodovar films, "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" is full of great, eccentric characters (the pistol-packing pharmacist, for example), and Almodovar's humour, acceptance and generosity towards human flaws always ensures some sort of good outcome.

"Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" contains a controversial scuba-diving gadget scene, and many Almodovar fans will note a very similar scene in "Talk to Her." (...). I loved the scenes when Maximo's frustration is shown by his endless circling in the wheelchair, and when he dances in his chair with Lola. The film also includes some amazing Spanish music. Almodovar and Abril fans will not be disappointed in this film--displacedhuman

Rating:
Summary: BRINGS YOU UP ... NOT DOWN
Review: Perhaps Pedro Almodovars'most talked about film. This Video starring Antonio Banderas as a psychiatric patient obsessed with a former porno star / prostitute, played by beautiful Victoria Abril, is not one of Almodovars' best films, but definately worth a look.

Ricky (Banderas), recently released psychiatric patient, kidnaps Marina (abril) and is convinced that he can get her to fall in love with him. Banderas and Abril champion their roles, as the psycho who just needs love and the hooker with a big heart, which fits perfectly with Almodovars directorial style. Some viewers will consider this "over the top" while others, familiar with Almodovars work, will find it very entertaining, quite funny and a must see! The film is loaded with frantic, frenzied bondage scenes as well as finely exploiting the sexual tension between the leading actors. Sometimes wonderfully erotic and sometimes cartoonishly comic this film is a fun avant-garde romp. Oh yes and did I say Abril is a beautiful women - you can't keep your eyes off her. Oh and make sure you get the "unrated" version. You don't want to miss the controversial "bathtub scene" involving Abril and that naughty toy submarine ! Yep, that's right! ... Enjoy !

Rating:
Summary: A loving kidnapping drama...
Review: Ricky (Antonio Banderas), a newly released mental patient, enters society with hope of building a family after have convinced the woman in his life that she loves him. This woman is Marina (Victoria Abril), a former heroin addict and porn star, that is filming a horror film with a director who has recently suffered a severe stroke. Ricky enters the film studio and retrieves Marina's keys, which he uses when he breaks into Marina's apartment and kidnaps her. In doing so Ricky wants Marina to get to know him and fall in love with him as they have had a brief affair once before, which changed Ricky's life.

Pedro Almodóvar knows how to make the absurd feel authentic and in this story he does it well as Marina and Ricky get to know each other. The story is planned down to every last detail as both characters have some heavy luggage from their pasts, which serves as a solid foundation for them to relate and understand one another. Almodóvar uses vibrant colors that improves visual representation of the likes and dislikes between Ricky and Marina as it expands on the audience's understanding of what is going on. There are also several interesting shots that are out of the ordinary as they draw attention to the characters and develop the persona around the characters. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! fades away from the silver screen with a good cinematic experience, which can be pondered over a glass of sangria.

Rating:
Summary: A loving kidnapping drama...
Review: Ricky (Antonio Banderas), a newly released mental patient, enters society with hope of building a family after have convinced the woman in his life that she loves him. This woman is Marina (Victoria Abril), a former heroin addict and porn star, that is filming a horror film with a director who has recently suffered a severe stroke. Ricky enters the film studio and retrieves Marina's keys, which he uses when he breaks into Marina's apartment and kidnaps her. In doing so Ricky wants Marina to get to know him and fall in love with him as they have had a brief affair once before, which changed Ricky's life.

Pedro Almodóvar knows how to make the absurd feel authentic and in this story he does it well as Marina and Ricky get to know each other. The story is planned down to every last detail as both characters have some heavy luggage from their pasts, which serves as a solid foundation for them to relate and understand one another. Almodóvar uses vibrant colors that improves visual representation of the likes and dislikes between Ricky and Marina as it expands on the audience's understanding of what is going on. There are also several interesting shots that are out of the ordinary as they draw attention to the characters and develop the persona around the characters. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! fades away from the silver screen with a good cinematic experience, which can be pondered over a glass of sangria.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and incisive...
Review: This is definitely one of Almodovar's best films, it kept me smiling and laughing out loud throughout. In typical Almodavrian fashion, absurdism is used to disguise some fairly audacious statements:

1. Love = bondage, both men and women need to feel that they "have no choice" in being with and loving the other person.

2. Love = addiction/drug, if you don't have one you will inevitably substitute the other for it.

3. Love = inescapably absurd, and absurdly inescapable.

This could've easily turned into an over-the-top or overly bitter and cynical farce. Instead, in keeping with Almodovar's unique genius, he chooses an ending that is both hilariously absurd and irresistibly light and heartwarming at the same time. A sort of *romantic* black humor, if you will.

Victoria Abril and Antonio Banderas both put in world-class performances, backed by a strong cast peppered with some longtime Almodovar reliables. Too bad Banderas has sold his soul to Hollywood in the last few years, he did his best work in small European films like this.

Like all truly good films, this one only gets better with repeated viewings.

Rating:
Summary: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Review: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) is one of the two movies by renown director Pedro Almodóvar (the other being Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) that got wide attention in the US, albeit in the art house scene. Nothing since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (made in 1990) has gotten nearly as much attention, despite several efforts since than by Almodóvar. Both movies have a similar style, but Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a bit more disturbing as it revolves around a kidnapping.

Marina Osorio (Victoria Abril) is a former porn actor and junkie trying to make a more respectable living as a B movie actor. Ricky (Antonio Banderas), is a troubled youth who has just been released from a mental institution where he had spent the last several years due to his constant running away from orphanages and reform schools. Somehow Ricky has decided that Marina is his future wife and after some very lame attempts to get her attention on the set of her new movie, decides to break into her apartment and "kidnap" her until she is convinced to love him as he does her.

This seems somewhat straightforward, but most would assume that this would be a terror-filled, disturbing film about stalkers and people who's reality is warped. It is disturbing, but not for those reasons, but rather for its very light-hearted atmosphere and slapstick comedy in the face of this rather serious situation. One might call it a black comedy, but the mood is generally so light, that a better term might be "gray comedy." Marina, though occasionally showing some terror, seems more angry and annoyed at being tied up and kept captive than in fear for her life. One thing ran through my mind when watching this - that quote from Die Hard with the expert commentator on the news talking about how kidnapped victims sometimes go through the "Helsinki Syndrom" and start empathizing with their captors. Well, it does not take all that long for Ricky to actually convince Marina to love him. This again, leads to the very light-hearted and surreal nature of the film, and everything in the film seems to have this quality, almost as if what is happening is not real, but being acted on stage. This relates to the film that Marina is acting in at the beginning of this movie, where likewise, everything is pretty fantastic and unreal.

Other than the shear oddity of this film, the main other noteworthy quality seems to be in its steamy sex scenes with Abril and Bandaras. The film actually got an NC-17 rating due to this, which shows the hypocrisy of the MPAA which gives incredibly violent films like Saving Private Ryan an R, but because of a little sexual content will brand a film with NC-17 and make it hard to sell at the box office in most communities.

The DVD is lackluster, containing no special features except for a Trailer. The anamorphic transfer is a good one, very clear with vibrant colors. The audio is the original mono Spanish and is very clear for a mono soundtrack.

If you are a fan of the offbeat, you may enjoy this film for the shear "different" quality it has compared to most mainstream movies, but its light treatment of very disturbing theme may be too much for others.

Rating:
Summary: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Review: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) is one of the two movies by renown director Pedro Almodóvar (the other being Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) that got wide attention in the US, albeit in the art house scene. Nothing since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (made in 1990) has gotten nearly as much attention, despite several efforts since than by Almodóvar. Both movies have a similar style, but Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a bit more disturbing as it revolves around a kidnapping.

Marina Osorio (Victoria Abril) is a former porn actor and junkie trying to make a more respectable living as a B movie actor. Ricky (Antonio Banderas), is a troubled youth who has just been released from a mental institution where he had spent the last several years due to his constant running away from orphanages and reform schools. Somehow Ricky has decided that Marina is his future wife and after some very lame attempts to get her attention on the set of her new movie, decides to break into her apartment and "kidnap" her until she is convinced to love him as he does her.

This seems somewhat straightforward, but most would assume that this would be a terror-filled, disturbing film about stalkers and people who's reality is warped. It is disturbing, but not for those reasons, but rather for its very light-hearted atmosphere and slapstick comedy in the face of this rather serious situation. One might call it a black comedy, but the mood is generally so light, that a better term might be "gray comedy." Marina, though occasionally showing some terror, seems more angry and annoyed at being tied up and kept captive than in fear for her life. One thing ran through my mind when watching this - that quote from Die Hard with the expert commentator on the news talking about how kidnapped victims sometimes go through the "Helsinki Syndrom" and start empathizing with their captors. Well, it does not take all that long for Ricky to actually convince Marina to love him. This again, leads to the very light-hearted and surreal nature of the film, and everything in the film seems to have this quality, almost as if what is happening is not real, but being acted on stage. This relates to the film that Marina is acting in at the beginning of this movie, where likewise, everything is pretty fantastic and unreal.

Other than the shear oddity of this film, the main other noteworthy quality seems to be in its steamy sex scenes with Abril and Bandaras. The film actually got an NC-17 rating due to this, which shows the hypocrisy of the MPAA which gives incredibly violent films like Saving Private Ryan an R, but because of a little sexual content will brand a film with NC-17 and make it hard to sell at the box office in most communities.

The DVD is lackluster, containing no special features except for a Trailer. The anamorphic transfer is a good one, very clear with vibrant colors. The audio is the original mono Spanish and is very clear for a mono soundtrack.

If you are a fan of the offbeat, you may enjoy this film for the shear "different" quality it has compared to most mainstream movies, but its light treatment of very disturbing theme may be too much for others.